The U.S. Senate's top Republican and Democratic leaders began negotiating Tuesday (Dec 18) after the White House indicated President Donald #Trump does not want a federal #governmentshutdown over his demand for $5bn US for the border wall with Mexico. Without a resolution, more than 800,000 government workers could be furloughed or sent to work without pay, disrupting government operations days before the Christmas holiday. Democratic leader #NancyPelosi called it a 'good sign' that the #WhiteHouse appeared to be backing off its demands.

The White House showed a willingness to budge earlier Tuesday as it became apparent the president does not have support in #Congress for funding the wall at the $5bn level he wants. While Trump said last week he would be 'proud' to have a shutdown over the wall funding, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday said are 'other ways' to secure the $5bn that he wants.

An international team of astronomers has discovered the furthest object ever detected in the Solar System. Nicknamed “Farout”, it’s a small round object with a pinkish hue located 17.95 billion kilometers (11.15 billion miles) from the Sun. The color is common in ice-rich objects.

Its official designation is 2018 VG18 and it is 500 kilometers (310 miles) in diameter. It's the first object discovered further than 100 astronomical units (AU) from our star, with 1 AU being the Earth-Sun distance. Farout is at a distance of 120 AU, significantly further out than dwarf planet Eris, which is at 96 AU. Pluto, by comparison, is at 34 AU.

The object was discovered in images taken with the Japanese Subaru Telescope atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii on November 10. Follow-up observations to confirm the distance were conducted in December from Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

“All that we currently know about 2018 VG18 is its extreme distance from the Sun, its approximate diameter, and its color,” co-discoverer David Tholen, from the University of Hawaii, said in a statement. “Because 2018 VG18 is so distant, it orbits very slowly, likely taking more than 1,000 years to take one trip around the Sun.”

Farout adds to the intriguing family of peculiar objects so far discovered beyond the orbit of Pluto. The orbits of these trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) seem to be influenced by the gravity of a massive planet so researchers have put forward the idea that Planet 9 exists over 200 AU from the Sun. So far the search hasn’t uncovered definitive proof, but TNOs are helping astronomers understand what’s going on at the edge of the Solar System.

“2018 VG18 is much more distant and slower moving than any other observed Solar System object, so it will take a few years to fully determine its orbit,” added co-discoverer Scott Sheppard, from the Carnegie Institution for Science. “But it was found in a similar location on the sky to the other known extreme Solar System objects, suggesting it might have the same type of orbit that most of them do. The orbital similarities shown by many of the known small, distant Solar System bodies was the catalyst for our original assertion that there is a distant, massive planet at several hundred AU shepherding these smaller objects.”

While we are only just starting to understand the further rims of the Solar System, discoveries like this show that there are still many worlds out there left to find.

#Japan’s government has approved a significant #military budget increase that will provide the East Asian nation with the capabilities to attack foreign-enemy bases for the first time since the end of World War II. Prime Minister #ShinzoAbe’s cabinet made the decision on Tuesday, raising military spending substantially to 17tn yen (or $240bn) over the next five years. A large portion of those funds will be spent on weapons made in the #UnitedStates, a move that has been urged by President Donald #Trump.

The decision came despite the 1947 Japanese constitution, which in Article 9 condemns war and says that 'land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.' Abe has pushed for amending the article, and urged an amendment that formally recognizes the nation’s self-defense forces (SDF). However, recent polling suggests that less than 40% of the Japanese population supports such a move under the current prime minister’s leadership.

Google marks Gboard's 500 language support milestone with new update - Google has launched a new Gboard app for Android devices, something that's not unusual at all considering that updates for the keyboard app have been delivered on a monthly basis. However, the most recent update comes with an announcement that took us by surprise a bit. It looks like Gboard for Android now supports more than 500 languages, quite an astonishing achievement considering the fact that the app was launched wi...

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